ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan Monday stressed upon active participation of the private sector in the country's development process and said the government was fully committed to providing a conducive environment to it.
Keeping in view public requirements, the private sector’s participation was highly crucial, he added.
The prime minister chaired a meeting in which he was given a briefing over different ongoing, completed and nearing-completion public-private partnership projects carried under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP), PM Office Media Wing said in a press release.
Imran Khan said the Board of Investment (BoI) was being fully activated to provide facilities to the foreign and local investors.
The prime minister was apprised that the work on about 50 different public-private partnership model development projects worth Rs 2,000 billion under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) was under way in different phases.
A total of 35 others were in the process of approval, it was further added.
The meeting was attended by Minister for Planning Asad Umar, Minister for Finance Shaukat Tarin, relevant secretaries and senior officials. Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar, provincial minister Hashim Jawan Bakht and other provincial officers attended the meeting via videolink.
The meeting was informed that 14 other projects worth 978 billion rupees would get approval in the next three months, whereas 18 projects costing 1016 billion rupees would be awarded in the year 2021-22.
It was further apprised that two important projects - Sialkot-Kharian Motorway and Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway – with a cost of Rs 233 billion had been approved by the Public-Private Partnership Authority.
Tender for Sialkot-Kharian Motorway had been floated whereas for Sukkur-Hyderabad project, the tender would be released in June.
The prime minister was apprised that six more projects worth 710 billion rupees would be approved by August in this year.
These projects in the public-private partnership models included communication, health, science and technology, social sector and other related sectors.
Under the “PSDP Plus” strategy, conducive environment and other necessary assistance were being provided to ensure participation of the private sector.
Under the “PSDP Plus” strategy, 180 different venues had been identified with estimated worth of Rs 5.5 trillion, it was further added.
The prime minister directed Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial governments to submit progress details of federal and provincial development projects, including the future development projects and their distribution on the basis of different areas.